7 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia.
This is the message from the one who is holy and true,
the one who has the key of David.
What he opens, no one can close;
and what he closes, no one can open:[c]
8 “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me."
Revelation 3:7-8
Last night at prayer meeting Miguel read these 2 verses.He said he'd been writing an article for the denom magazine, and felt like these words are for the church in Spain.
He talked about He Who opens doors, and how we have to walk through them.
Doors in Spain are fascinating objects. Some are ugly beyond all recognition, and others are made of beautiful pine wood, stained to perfection. I love walking through the old streets of Granada, and wondering what goes on behind all the doors I walk past.
But this verse struck me even more as Andrew and I have and important door to walk through. In just a few days time, we will return to Atlanta and have one last Christmas with Andrew's mom. This is a difficult door to walk through. It is one that I begged the key to be thrown away, as I know it will not be easy. It feels a little like one of the three doors the Wanderers find themselves in front of in Moria. Sam, Frodo, and the Felllowship of the Ring find three passageways, and Gandalf doesn't know quite where to go. Each one looks more menacing than the other. And the door they take only gives them the highest pain in the story, the loss of Gandalf.
But our current door, to return to the US for Christmas, this is the door opened by the He Who has the Key. We must march on, in ultimate faith, knowing that even if there is pain, death, and sorrow ahead, Victory is the the Final Goal.
And I am reminded of this...
But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
May we walk through this door in Victory.
This is the message from the one who is holy and true,
the one who has the key of David.
What he opens, no one can close;
and what he closes, no one can open:[c]
8 “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me."
Revelation 3:7-8
Last night at prayer meeting Miguel read these 2 verses.He said he'd been writing an article for the denom magazine, and felt like these words are for the church in Spain.
He talked about He Who opens doors, and how we have to walk through them.
Doors in Spain are fascinating objects. Some are ugly beyond all recognition, and others are made of beautiful pine wood, stained to perfection. I love walking through the old streets of Granada, and wondering what goes on behind all the doors I walk past.
But this verse struck me even more as Andrew and I have and important door to walk through. In just a few days time, we will return to Atlanta and have one last Christmas with Andrew's mom. This is a difficult door to walk through. It is one that I begged the key to be thrown away, as I know it will not be easy. It feels a little like one of the three doors the Wanderers find themselves in front of in Moria. Sam, Frodo, and the Felllowship of the Ring find three passageways, and Gandalf doesn't know quite where to go. Each one looks more menacing than the other. And the door they take only gives them the highest pain in the story, the loss of Gandalf.
But our current door, to return to the US for Christmas, this is the door opened by the He Who has the Key. We must march on, in ultimate faith, knowing that even if there is pain, death, and sorrow ahead, Victory is the the Final Goal.
And I am reminded of this...
But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
May we walk through this door in Victory.
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